Manager Quality & EHS

Aitech•Los Angeles, CA

3h•Onsite

About The Position

Aitech Defense Systems is seeking a hands-on Manager, Quality & EHS to lead and evolve their quality assurance, environmental health & safety, and compliance programs. This role is central to ensuring products meet the highest standards across design, development, production, and delivery. The manager will lead a small but growing team, manage compliance frameworks, and partner cross-functionally with Engineering, Supply Chain, Production, and the PMO to ensure traceability, audit readiness, and performance across the full product lifecycle. This is a senior-level management role with strategic impact, scoped at the Manager level with a clear path to Director, based on experience, performance, and company growth.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a technical field (Engineering, Quality, Industrial Technology, Applied Science) OR equivalent technical training and 10+ years aerospace/defense quality experience.
Minimum 10 years of QA experience in aerospace/defense.
Strong hands-on experience with AS9100 implementation and audits.
Familiarity with CM/DM processes, inspection methods, and EHS programs.
Proven experience leading or supporting customer, certification, and regulatory audits.
Strong analytical and data reporting skills.
Excellent leadership, planning, and communication abilities.
U.S. person status required.

Nice To Haves

AS9100 Lead Auditor Certification
Six Sigma (Green or Black Belt)
IPC-A-610 knowledge (Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies)
Professional certifications: CQE / CRE / CQM
Familiarity with Software Quality Assurance
Knowledge of Reliability Engineering principles

Responsibilities

Lead and maintain compliance with AS9100D and customer, industry, and regulatory standards.
Manage and continuously improve the Quality Management System (QMS), including audits, non-conformance processes, and supplier quality.
Oversee First Article Inspections (FAI), customer source inspections, and all inspection stages (incoming, in-process, final).
Establish and track quality KPIs to identify trends, drive root cause analysis, and implement CAPA improvements.
Partner with Engineering and the PMO to support New Product Introduction (NPI) and contract-driven quality deliverables.
Coordinate and manage the FRACAS process, ensuring systemic reporting, analysis, and resolution of product or process failures.
Drive timely resolution of CAPAs, CARs, SCARs, and customer-reported escapes.
Lead and directly manage Configuration Management (CM) & Document Control (DM), ensuring product baseline integrity, ECO workflows with SLAs, and audit readiness.
Own site-level EHS compliance, ensuring adherence to OSHA, environmental, and company standards.
Develop proactive risk mitigation strategies, including incident tracking and root cause elimination.
Conduct safety audits and foster a safety-conscious culture across the site.
Integrate EHS metrics and procedures into the QMS framework for streamlined governance.
Build and lead the supplier quality function.
Support supplier audits, manage supplier performance (PPM, OTD), and drive SCAR closure.
Act as a key customer interface for quality-related communications, audit responses, and field issue resolution.
Lead and develop a small but expanding team aligned with growth.
Set clear performance objectives, provide coaching, and build technical capabilities.
Drive a culture of prevention, continuous improvement, and accountability across functions.